Monday, March 11, 2013

Patched Pants

My son had a pair of pants that were torn almost as badly as this (yet to be repaired) pair.

I had been ignoring the holes in the knees for several weeks as they steadily worsened, but it really had gotten to the point where sending him to school in them was embarrassing. I remembered a pin on pinterest that led to a page with an adorable monster patch for a child's pair of pants.

At the bright shiny beginning of the project I enthusiastically searched through my scrap bin of too-small kids clothing for just the right things to cut up for scraps. I spent an hour cutting out the background for the mouth (from an old corduroy button down shirt of Michael's), teeth (from an old swaddling blanket), and the eyes (from an old onesie). I fray checked all the edges of the monster components, cut a huge hole out of the knee around the hole/tear/worn material, and carefully pinned everything in place.

I sat down excitedly at my sewing machine to sew the new patch in place thinking I'd be able to hand Michael his "new" upcycled pants in 20 minutes and realized I had overlooked something rather important. I couldn't fit the leg of his teeny tiny jeans over my sewing machine - much less turn the material around in the ways necessary to do the applique. (!*!!!$@#) However, I was not going to be defeated. A little hunting online led me to the conclusion that I was going to have to rip out a huge section of the inseam on that leg so I could lay it out flat.

So that took... a long time. And then they are fleece lined jeans so I had to rip open the lining too. Then I spent 20-30 minutes sewing on the monster pieces with Michael at my side asking when I would be done. He wanted to know if he could wear them right away. It was so adorable. I needed his enthusiasm at that point to keep me motivated.

Finally I was done with the patch itself. I was thinking I was home free. Only two straight lines left. One to repair the inseam of the lining and another to repair the inseam of the jeans. Because I am brilliant and naturally crafty, I only then realized that just as I couldn't fit the jeans on my sewing machine to sew on the patch, I couldn't fit the darned things on to repair the inseam either. I sent more than a few uncharitable thoughts towards the jeans, my sewing machine, and the entirety of the so-close but not finished project. I scrunched up the ankle and managed to sew up four inches of the inseam that way. Then I just pinched the darned thing closed and sewed it from the outside. It's not like anyone is going to be staring at his inner thigh anyway.

And tada!


The boy is so excited. He couldn't wait to wear them to school today. As for me, well... It may have taken three hours, but I'm pretty pleased. I didn't have to throw out one of Michael's favorite pairs of pants and he sees it as a significant upgrade so I'm calling it a win and a learning experience. Now I just have to take on about two other pairs of jeans with similar knees...

4 comments:

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  2. I was able to overcome senile dementia via a complete naturopathic process.

    About two years ago, when I was 56, I started feeling foggy and had occasional memory lapses. My wife, Mary, started to notice it, too, but I also have hearing issues so she thought that was the problem. My memory problems worsened very gradually over the years, and we lived with it, compensating as needed. I became less social. After some months thereafter, it got to the point where we couldn’t keep making excuses or ignoring it. I had gone from doing our grocery shopping without a list to going with a list, to having the list but not buying what was on it.

    Mary went online to do some research, and it was during this process we had been fortunate enough to come across Dr. Utu Herbal Cure: an African herbalist and witch doctor whose professional works had majored on the eradication of certain viral conditions, especially dementia, ( improving the memory capacity positively), via a traditional, naturopathic process and distinguished diet plan. It was by the administration of this herbal specialist that I had been able to improve my condition for better. So to say, the encounter with the above-mentioned herbal practitioner was the first time we ever heard there was something that possibly can be done to improve my memory functionality.

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  3. Hi, there. I am Tom Neil and I wish to describe how life had been for my younger brother living with schizophrenia and how he had been permanently able to overcome this debilitating disease via a naturopathic, herbal method.

    Maicon - my kid brother was twenty years old when he was brought to the emergency room by the campus police of the college from which he had been suspended several months ago. A professor had called and reported that he had walked into his classroom, accused him of taking his tuition money, and declined to leave.

    Although he had much academic attainment as a teenager, his behavior had become increasingly weird during the past year. He quit seeing his friends and no longer seemed to care about his appearance or social pursuits. He began wearing the same clothes each day and seldom bathed. He lived with several family members but rarely spoke to any of them. When he did talk to them, he said he had found clues that his college was just a front for an organized crime operation. He had been suspended from college because of missing many classes. My sister said that she had often seen him mumbling quietly to himself and at times he seemed to be talking to people who were not there. He would emerge from my room and ask my family to be quiet even when they were not making any noise.

    My father and sister told the staff that Maicon's great-grandmother had had a serious illness and had lived for 30 years in a state hospital, which they believed was a mental hospital. Our mother left the family when Maicon was very young. She has been out of touch with us, and they thought she might have been treated for mental health problems.

    Maicon agreed to sign himself into the psychiatric unit for treatment. The whole family except I had agreed to have Maicon transferred to a mental asylum. I knew inwardly there was still some plausible means by which my kid brother could overcome this condition. I knew botanical means of treatment will be more favorable than any other type of treatment, and as such, I had taken a keen interest in the research of naturopathic alternative measures suitable for the treatment of schizophrenia. I had pleaded for some little patience from the family in the delay of the transfer, I was looking forward to proving a point to the entire family, of a positive botanical remedy for this condition.

    It was during my ceaseless search on the internet I had been fortunate enough to come across Dr. Utu Herbal Cure: an African herbalist and witch doctor whose professional works had majored on the eradication of certain viral conditions, especially schizophrenia, ( improving the memory capacity positively), via a traditional, naturopathic process and distinguished diet plan. It was by the administration of this herbal specialist that my brother had been able to improve his condition for better.

    Before the naturopathic remedy - Maicon's story had reflected a common case, in which a high-functioning young adult goes through a major decline in day-to-day skills. Although family and friends may feel this is a loss of the person they knew, the illness can be treated and a good outcome is possible.

    My brother Maicon is just like many other patients out there suffering from this disease. Although he was able to overcome this condition via a naturopathic herbal remedy administered by this African herbal physician and saved completely thus, rekindling the lost joy which had been experienced by the family members.

    I wish to use this opportunity to reach across to anyone who may happen to be diagnosed with this disastrous condition to spread the hope of an everlasting herbal remedy that is capable of imposing a permanent end to this disease.

    For more information concerning this naturopathic herbal remedy, feel free to contact this African herbal practitioner via email:
    drutuherbalcure@gmail.com

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